Week 2

Robert Zhu

A02

In Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation Of Hmong Americans, Kaozong mentions her realization and discovery of what Hmong truly is, and how the U.S interpretation of Hmong is flawed and harmful. Kaozong’s article made me think of how the U.S Education system tries to change the view and truth toward people of different cultures. Aside from the misinterpretation of the Hmong people as “free”, I can think of Native Americans as a target of misinformation as well. Many textbooks in the United States express a positive relation for the “discovery” of America. In reality, the Native Americans were brutally slaughtered and shipped as slaves by the Europeans as their land was being stolen.

One part of the article that really struck me was the emphasis of education in the Hmong community, and how the US education may lead to significant impacts of one’s home language and identity. I can relate to this because my parents took education very seriously - especially English. I would still know to speak Cantonese, but I couldn’t read or write it. Instead, I found a different way to preserve my identity and home language while also balancing English by speaking Cantonese to my classmates and friends. Since I grew up in the Bay Area, it was not hard to find people who could speak Cantonese, and we would always exchange stories about our cultures. However, not everyone has this opportunity and I can understand how the US education can lead to a neglect and miseducation of their home identity.

The Heritage Cycle helps explain the process of finding and incorporating culture into our lives. It begins with understanding the culture. Only then may we begin to value it. From there, we can learn to care for a culture and eventually enjoy it. With more enjoyment, we will want to learn and understand more (Thurley, 2005).

Question: How can we alter the U.S education to prevent the misinterpretation of various cultures and prevent a disregardance toward our home identities?

References:

Thurley, S. (2005). Into the Future. Our strategy for 2005-2010. Conservation Bulletin, 49.